Christi Belcourt and Isaac Murdoch in the Saugeen District Secondary School (SDSS) Cafetorium following their week-long collaborative mural project with students from SDSS and G.C. Huston Public School.

Kiera Merriam

As Canada nears its celebration of the 150th anniversary of confederation we are seeing an increase in the prevalence of commentary on the status of Indigenous peoples.

Many Canadians pride themselves on being a nation of opportunity; a nation of tolerance and diversity - and for many it is - and yet, according to statistics published in a 2015 MacLean’s article, in many ways Indigenous people who reside in what is now known as Canada are worse off than the Black population south of the border. There is a national inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls; a suicide epidemic in northern First Nations communities; chronic underfunding of on-reserve education. The Globe and Mail recently reported that in 2011 Indigenous children accounted for 48% of foster children in Canada while only making up 7% of the country’s youth.

If we have the courage to look, we don’t have to venture far to find that the reality for many people in Canada far from coincides with that for which this country is supposed to stand.

We had an opportunity to chat with two Indigenous artists and activists about Canada 150 during their recent visit to Saugeen Shores. Michif artist Christi Belcourt and Anishnaabe storyteller Isaac Murdoch, both of the Onaman Collective and #Resistance150, spent a week earlier this year with students from Saugeen District Secondary School and G.C. Huston Public School for a collaborative mural project that ended in a grand unveiling April 7.

“One of the things that really strikes me as odd and unfair is that Canada has 100 percent of the land base and 0.2 percent of the land is held in trust by the Crown for the use of Indians, meaning that we have zero percent of the land,” said Murdoch. “How did we end up with absolutely nothing, being oppressed in the Indian Act, and pretty much being forced to watch, in poverty, our homelands be destroyed by Canada,” he said.

Murdoch said the Indian Act was put in place so that First Nations were contained on reserve and out of their territory so that resource extraction could take place. “What the Indian Act does is it provides programs and services and it gives them just enough for them to exist in poverty,” he said.

Murdoch suggested that if race based legislation existed in pertinence to any other group in Canada, it would not be tolerated. “Can you imagine what would happen if they did this to the Black community,” he said, adding that it’s considered acceptable with First Nations “because everyone benefits from their land, so of course there’s not the outcry for social justice because that would mean that we have to give the land back, how many Canadians are actually willing to do that,” he asked.

And they’re not asking for all the land back, continued Murdoch. “They’re saying that they need enough land to survive because the reserves are not economically viable.” Because poverty exists on reserve, coupled with the generational trauma of residential schools and the subsequent ‘60s scoop, it leads to Child and Family Services removing children from their homes and oftentimes from their culture. “Now we have 100,000 Indigenous children in care,” he said.

“What would happen if another nation came and took 100,000 Canadian children,” Murdoch asked.

Health Canada reported that as of March 31 of this year 100 long-term Drinking Water Advisories had been in place for a year or more in 89 First Nation communities north of the 60th parallel. And that number doesn’t include British Columbia First Nation communities or communities within the Saskatoon Tribal Council. Where Murdoch himself lives, in Serpent River First Nation, as a result of uranium mining within the territory, mining that fuels nuclear power, he has never been able to turn on the tap and take a drink of water. “We’ll never be able to drink the water from the river for the rest of our time on the planet,” he said.

Murdoch said he believes that building bridges and education is a way forward, that if more Canadians knew the truth, things would begin to change.

Belcourt doesn’t have the same faith. She said that stereotypes around First Nations are “permeated in the bones of Canada” and are impossible to shake under the current colonial structure. “It’s built on the idea that Indigenous people are less,” she said.

“Follow any Indigenous writer or person on social media and wait to see the comments that come back... these are average Canadians. Then my daughter goes to school and her little friends ask her ‘Why do you Indians get everything for free,’” she said. “Whenever we try to protect our lands, the militarized police are called in. I’ve stood on the side of the road and had people yell, ‘Get a job’ at me.”

Belcourt said that the idea that Indigenous people are less justifies land theft so that resource extraction can continue.

“If that dynamic changes there would have to be an acknowledgement [of stolen land],” she said. “Because the very foundation of who we are as Indigenous people and all the well being of who we are relies on the land and we’ve been displaced from our land.”

Belcourt suggested that in order for true reconciliation to take place, nations would need to be restored and Indigenous people would need to be given the right to govern as they see fit. “How can reconciliation happen without the restoration of everything that was taken away in the 150 years? People have been here 15,000 years, the idea that Canada is going to celebrate 150 is insulting,” said Belcourt.

Ryan McMahon, an Anishinaabe filmmaker, writer and comedian, in his 12-step guide to decolonizing Canada suggested that Canada give Indigenous nations half of the revenue generated from resource extraction. “From there, Indigenous people, we will take care of our lives and in time we come back to the table ready to talk about what a new Canada might look like.”

Jesse Wente, an Ojibwe broadcaster and Metro Morning columnist said in a recent broadcast that the historical narrative needs to change in order for the reality to change.

In the Anishinabek Nation’s statement on Canada 150, readers were reminded of Indigenous contributions to the nation of Canada, that meaningful co-existence must be based on “mutual recognition, mutual respect, sharing, and mutual responsibility.”

Pam Palmater, a Mi’kmaw lawyer, professor and activist suggested Canada 150 is a celebration of Indigenous genocide and said that it’s time for Canada to undertake the hard work necessary to make amends. “Then we could all celebrate the original treaty vision of mutual respect, prosperity and protection envisioned by our ancestors.”

Whatever the solution, wherever this discussion might take us, let’s make sure that Indigenous voices are being heard, that they are not only part of but at the forefront of the conversation. For wouldn’t it stand to reason that, if given a chance, they might know a better way forward?

This Canada Day, let’s resolve to pass the mic.